"When I'm at a Chinese restaurant having a hard time with chopsticks, I always hope that there's a Chinese kid at an American restaurant somewhere who's struggling mightily with a fork."--Rick Budinich

Ingredients:

Directions:

Mix milk, water, yeast and sugar, let rest until foamy. Add oil, egg yolks, ginger and 2 cups of flour at a time, mixing well in between. Allow dough to rest 20 min. Cover while resting. Knead well after rest. Cover and allow to raise 1 hour. To braid dough for fancy loaves, take dough the size of softball. Working on a floured counter top, roll dough in for 2 ropes 10 inches long. Press together one end and bringing one rope over the other. Place in a greased loaf pan. If you want to use three ropes, braid together and bring end around making a circle. Place in a round greased baking pan. Beat 1 egg yolk and brush onto dough. Allow to rise uncovered for 40 min in a warm draft free area. Bake at 375º for 45min. (a bit more for the large circle loaf). While bread is baking, mix 3 T. sugar and 1 ½ T. hot water dissolving the sugar. When bread is finished baking, remove from oven and pans and place on a cooling rack with newspaper under racks. While still hot, brush liberally with sugar water glaze. Allow to cool.

Number Of
Servings:

25

Preparation
Time:

About 3-1/2 hours

Personal
Notes:

This was and still is the most beautiful bread to serve at any holiday or special event. See the picture of my proud mother (Ferne Bungart) with her fabulous braided loaves.

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